In 1971, a fire broke out in the vacant Heyday Shoe building, once a maker of women's wear. Smoke rose high above the old manufacturing district west of downtown.
The dark column was but a foreshadow. The fire burned away the roof and windows at 2032 Locust Street, but the seven-story brick walls remained.
Five years later, a city agency owned the hulk. There was talk of selling it for a parking lot. It sat empty with a skeletal interior of heavy timbers and no roof â a perfect flue, as a fire official later would say.
Shortly after 4 p.m. on April 2, 1976, fire broke out again inside the Heyday. A nearby businessman heard an explosion and saw flames. He probably heard the fireball erupt.
It quickly raged through the Heyday and jumped across Locust to the St. Louis Housing Authority warehouse, then to other buildings along Locust. A firestorm was on.
